Heard It Through The Grapevine

There’s a sign in the parking lot that reads “Winery” with an arrow to punctuate the statement. A stroll in that direction leads to a small garden, and a beautiful building complete with real vines, French doors and elegant windows. Once inside, you know it to be true: someone is making wine in Craighall Park!

- Kate Liquorish

Kath Gerakaris grew up in Auckland, New Zealand. She was a rough-and tumble kind of girl – a fervent gardener, tree climber, wanderer and excursionist. After completing a bachelor’s degree in marketing, she set off on a global adventure with unforgettable escapades through Canada, the United Kingdom and Africa.

All too soon, Kath was back in Auckland – stuck behind a desk, wrapped up in the corporate world and pushing a 9-to-5 job. “I experienced an ‘early’ midlife crisis. I knew I wasn’t doing myself any good by sitting in an office. I realised that life is too short – in the end, you’ve got to do what you love,” Kath reflects.

With this revelation as encouragement, Kath completed a post-graduate diploma in viticulture and oenology before turning her sights to South Africa. She joined the team at Thelema Mountain Vineyards in Stellenbosch to work and learn during their six-week harvest. “After the harvest, the owner of the farm, Giles Webb, let me stay on. I worked in the vineyards, we’d chat and have wine tastings – it was amazing,” she reminisces. From Thelema, Kath went on to ply her trade at Flagstone Wines in Paardevlei – where she made her very first barrel of wine – and then to Whalehaven Winery in Hermanus and Idiom Wines in Cape Town.

She fell in love with the eclectic nature of South African winemaking, revelling in the wonderfully experimental attitude of the farmers she’s worked with. We laugh as she regales me with colourful accounts of the farmers she’s come to call colleagues and friends.